Chapter 68: Death of the Work

The red sun rose slowly from the east, while the silver moon reluctantly sank toward the west; a Wuling Hongguang smashed through the hospital’s electric fence and plunged into the empty lobby.

A gaunt man rose from behind a wide desk, his face concealed by a mask depicting a ferocious demon’s visage, revealing only two eyes that clashed violently with his frail physique—vibrant and alert.

His left eye was amber gold; his right, metallic silver.

The spacious conference room was utterly empty, save for him; at its center, a vast square table was dominated by an exquisitely detailed scale model of a city, where rolling hills cradled the winding Taojiang River, buildings rose in dense clusters, and traffic flowed ceaselessly along the roads.

This was a one-to-one scale model of Taoyuan City’s urban district.

A mobile phone rested beside the masked, gaunt man, its screen displaying a video call interface—but the other side was pitch black.

From the black screen came a refined, gentle male voice: “Daybreak has come. Should I congratulate you on your success—or mourn your failure?”

“You should shut your mouth,” the masked man muttered.

“So you’ve failed,” the man’s voice remained mild, almost good-natured; if Feng Yu were here, she would instantly recognize it—Bai Fugui’s voice.

From the black video feed, Bai Fugui’s voice continued through the speaker: “I’ll give you one more sunset. Such large-scale temporal-spatial severance demands a heavy price—Tu Yu will kill me. If after that sunset you’re still dawdling here, don’t expect me to stay. Ye Yao.”

The man known as Ye Yao narrowed his eyes slightly; the already grim situation grew more urgent under Tu Yu’s pressure.

—In the circle of Ascended, no one reveals their true name; most use the Rule Name they gained during their first Ascension.

He was Tu Yu; he was Ye Yao.

Ye Yao stared down at the city model on the table, pacing restlessly, and spoke to Tu Yu over the video: “The people at Bishuiwan Estate are nearly all dead, yet I still haven’t seen Lei Te’s shadow. Are you certain the one who possesses Lei Te is hiding among those few?”

“I’m not certain,” Bai Fugui replied with a smile. “It’s you who needs Lei Te, not me. I was merely hired to be the trap. If you can’t catch the fish inside, don’t blame me.”

“Stop talking like some scholar—you think you’re the only one who read books?” Ye Yao snapped, his gaunt shoulders trembling. “I’m dying. Don’t provoke a dying man.”

“What’s it to me if you die? Can you kill me?” Bai Fugui smiled faintly. “All I’m saying is—you have one sunset left. After that, I’ll withdraw Tu Yu. Cry, rage, kill—none of it concerns me anymore.”

“But you’ll hide in the shadows, watching me be tortured to death by Ye Yao, then come to collect my corpse,” Ye Yao gritted his teeth. “And my ghost.”

“Good. You understand,” Bai Fugui’s voice still carried a soft chuckle. “Hurry, friend. Time waits for no one. You want to live… don’t they want to live too?”

The video call ended.

Only Ye Yao’s heavy breathing filled the empty conference room. He braced his hands on the table’s edge, his piercing eyes fixed on the hospital in the northern zone of the model, his fists clenched unconsciously.

Just moments ago, a car had crashed through the gate and driven into the hospital.

“What the hell is that guy doing…” Ye Yao felt both fury and confusion. The people inside had vanished without a trace; despite his private searches, he found no sign of them. In just one night, the boy trailing Bai Zhi had seemingly uncovered the true nature of the ‘God’… Could he truly be just an ordinary man who stumbled into this?… Whatever the truth, his time was running out.

“If this kid really hides with those two women inside the hospital until dusk, it’s me who’ll be worn down to death.”

Ye Yao understood his situation clearly: “If I enter the game now and attempt a mid-range assassination, my odds are decent—but the risk is enormous.”

Everyone left is now on guard; even if they haven’t uncovered the God’s Rule, they’ve likely sensed its direction. And Lei Te’s exceedingly rare instant-kill Rule logically counters him outright.

As Lei Te’s original buyer, Ye Yao had studied its Rule in meticulous detail.

“Lei Te is dangerous, but as long as I keep my distance, I’m safe,” Ye Yao weighed his options, then sighed helplessly. “Time is short. No matter what, I must obtain Lei Te.”

There was no other choice—he had decided to enter the game himself.

Before death, he still had a chance to fight. Ye Yao knew he was already incredibly lucky; most Ascended died without ever finding a ghost that matched their Rule, perishing in agony, unraveling into chaos.

“At least I still have the right to risk it, the right to fight for survival,” Ye Yao told himself. “Others don’t even have a place to fight.”

He turned, opened the door, and left the empty, unlit conference room.

Meanwhile, at Qinzhou Medical College’s Taoyuan West Branch Hospital, Ning Zhe, who had just entered, sprinted through the first-floor corridors, shutting every window blind, curtain, and louver one by one, then flipping off all the lights on the floor.

Though the sun had only just risen in the east, the hospital was now pitch black.

Bai Zhi followed behind, assisting, and asked curiously, “Why turn off the lights and blinds? If what you say is true—that staying indoors will force the person behind the scenes to act—then we shouldn’t turn off the lights. We need to lure him closer.”

Lei Te’s Rule requires light and shadow to activate; Feng Yushu, as its holder, can directly perceive all shadows within a certain range and their movements—an immense advantage in close proximity.

Extinguishing the light is like severing one of Feng Yushu’s own senses before the fight even begins.

“Time is too tight—I can’t explain this slowly right now,” Ning Zhe said at breakneck speed. “If you want to live, trust me—and do exactly as I say.”

Ning Zhe already knew the God’s Rule. Assuming the person behind the scenes knew he knew it, their reaction would be immediate action.

A direct confrontation with a supernatural being who controls multiple ghosts was about to begin—he had to seize every second.

“But this time, it’s my turn to set the stage.”

Ning Zhe yanked the curtain shut with a rustle, then shot the ceiling light with a single bullet.

(End of Chapter)